


Basic Reconciliatory Responsibility

by miniaturedragonfly



Series: Advanced Culinary Arts [5]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Gen, Post-Episode: s05e08 App Development and Condiments, Season/Series 05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:07:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27569533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miniaturedragonfly/pseuds/miniaturedragonfly
Summary: Shirley brings a basket of baked goods for the Dean as an apology for turning his campus into a futuristic dystopian meritocracy.
Relationships: Shirley Bennett & Dean Craig Pelton
Series: Advanced Culinary Arts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2011546
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	Basic Reconciliatory Responsibility

Shirley was embarrassed. She hadn’t intended for things to get so out of hand. All she wanted was a little bit of recognition, the kind other people— _Jeffery_ —got showered in without even trying.

Okay, she had pushed the envelope a little. Maybe she had had something to prove, to herself or to Jeff or to everybody. Maybe she had taken things a little too far.

Shirley grimaced. She _had_ taken things a little too far. Probably a little more than a _little_ too far. The whole campus had been transformed into a futuristic dystopian landscape, but that wasn’t _entirely_ Shirley’s fault. The app developers should carry some of the blame. And all the other students, for getting carried away with the whole thing. And the Dean, for inviting something like this onto the Greendale campus in the first place.

But really, deep down, Shirley knew that she was responsible for her own actions, and that she had really dropped the ball on this one. This wasn’t like when she allowed herself to get swept up by a paintball game or one of Abed’s homages. This had _hurt peopl_ e, and there were bound to be consequences.

The most immediate consequence, though, was the fact that classes had shut down for several days, and the Dean would be looking for somebody to blame—somebody other than himself. And Shirley wasn’t quite sure she could trust him to be angry with the right people.

So she busied herself, that whole Sunday, with her baking. She was still exhausted from building a fake empire and then running it for a week, but this was more important. She could sleep once it had all blown over.

Shirley baked muffins and cookies and even a batch of her coconut lemon bars, just for some variety. It took the whole day, and once she finished, she fell into bed, hoping to catch a few hours of sleep before heading to Greendale early the next morning.

When she woke, she gathered her thoughts, found a nice pen that wrote smoothly, and jotted down a quick note. She arranged her baked goods in a basket, tucked the note in among the muffins, and buckled the whole thing into the passenger seat of her minivan.

It was still dark out as Shirley drove to Greendale. She wanted to make sure to be the first person on campus that morning, so the Dean didn’t have a chance to make any decisions before they’d worked things out. She parked her car in the student lot and made her way through the halls to the Dean’s office.

When she arrived at the Dean’s office, she wasn’t surprised to find that he hadn’t come in yet. His secretary, Rhonda, was already getting her desk set up for the day, and waved Shirley through the door.

“Good morning, Rhonda. I brought—“

“That had better be an apology muffin basket,” Rhonda cut her off in her signature croak.

“It is,” Shirley responded simply.

“Set it on the desk and get out. I doubt he wants to see you today.”

Shirley nodded. Rhonda was probably right. Setting the basket on the desk, she slipped out of the Dean’s office and hurried to the study room.

She only had to wait a few minutes before the intercom crackled to life.

“Shirley Bennett, please report to the Dean’s office. Shirley Bennett to the Dean’s office, please,” said Rhonda’s disinterested voice over the PA system.

Shirley frowned. This was not how this was supposed to go. _Maybe he hasn’t read the note yet_ , she thought. Nonetheless, she picked up her purse and marched herself to the Dean’s office.

Rhonda barely looked up as Shirley peeked through the door, only pausing her typing to wave vaguely in the direction of the Dean’s inner office. Shirley took a deep breath, wishing Annie or even Abed were by her side for support, and entered the Dean’s office.

“You’re here early,” the Dean said as soon as Shirley stepped into his office.

“Yes, I wanted to bring you—“ Shirley began, ready to gesture to the basket on his desk.

“Yes, I saw. These lemon bars are _delicious_ , you know,” the Dean added, licking some powdered sugar off of his thumb. “Sit down.”

Shirley settled herself in one of the chairs facing the Dean’s desk, feeling for all the world like a child in the principal’s office. She waited until the Dean spoke again—she had little to say by way of defending herself, anyway.

“When I got here this morning, I was ready to expel you,” the Dean said casually.

Shirley’s breath caught in her throat and she looked down at the floor involuntarily, clutching her purse to her chest like a shield, but she kept her breathing steady. She would _not_ let this man make her cry.

“But then I read your note.”

Shirley allowed her eyes to creep up to meet the Dean’s. “And?” she managed, softly.

“Well, I think your offer was a little ridiculous. I can’t just punish one person for the whole debacle—if you were to blame, then so were Annie and Koogler and Jeff and even Starburns. And maybe I was a little to blame, too. I think we all got carried away by the moment, and it’s not fair to assign all the liability to any one individual.”

Shirley nodded dejectedly. “I understand, Dean Pelton. I’ll go clean out my locker now. I can put a note in the study room if you like, so the others know to come see you, but I don’t know where to find Koogler. I had hardly even seen him around before last week—are you sure he’s a student here?”

Shirley stopped. The Dean was giving her an odd look.

“Shirley, I’m not going to expel the whole study group.”

“Oh.” She looked around. “Is there another dirty old bus you need us to wash?”

The Dean sighed. “No. I learned my lesson about that, believe me.”

Shirley was confused. “Then why am I here?”

“Well, I wanted to make it very clear that I am _mad at you_ , but considering the circumstances—“ he placed a hand on the basket in front of him, “—I’m wiling to let this one slide. I think we’re all just pretty embarrassed about the whole thing, and I’m hoping that if we let it blow over, the press won’t find out about it. Deal?” He smiled conspiratorially at her.

Shirley smiled back. “That sounds like a plan.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is a series in which Shirley bakes something for each member of the Save Greendale Committee during the latter half of season 5.


End file.
